How the far right learned to look normal on TikTok

Caitlín Otway breaks down the reasons behind the success of many far-right figures on TikTok and argues that progressive politicians should use the platform to their own advantage.

For years, many of us working within progressive movements saw TikTok as culturally influential but politically secondary. It shaped trends, produced viral absurdities and occasionally embarrassed a candidate. 

It wasn’t a place where long-term political reputations were built.

But that opinion now feels outdated. Over the past few years, TikTok has established itself as a powerhouse of social media, with short-form video now one of the most effective tools available to political campaigns. But while some progressive parties are still deciding how seriously to take TikTok, far-right politicians across Europe have embraced it, recognizing that on the platform, visibility, authenticity, and relatability can lay the groundwork long before traditional voter persuasion begins.

Up close and personal

In France, the National Rally’s Jordan Bardella maintains a steady flow of polished yet seemingly casual Tiktok content - including coffee stops, behind-the-scenes moments, and short off-the-cuff reflections delivered straight to camera, filmed sporting turtlenecks and quarter zips. 

In Sweden, the far right’s Jimmie Åkesson regularly posts videos of himself relaxing in sunglasses, watching sunsets over the lake, or drinking a beer against picture-perfect Swedish landscapes. 

Meanwhile in Poland, Sławomir Mentzen has built significant reach through short, conversational videos that feel direct and unfiltered. Filmed in relaxed settings, often in a podcast studio and rarely sporting a tie, his delivery is plainspoken and confident, giving the impression of accessibility.

And while the majority of these players are men, right-wing and far-right female candidates are also embracing TikTok’s appetite for authentic, parasocial content. In the Paris mayoral election earlier this year, several candidates ran digital-first campaigns. Republican candidate Rachida Dati’s campaign attempted to echo that of socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, filming content early in the morning with the city’s refuse collectors, and with homeless people near the Pompidou Centre.

Meanwhile, her far-right competitor, Sarah Knafo, also used the platform daily, posting content from inside Paris bistros and behind the scenes clips of her campaign. 

Ideology is rarely the opening move for these politicians and candidates.

Seen together, these examples reveal a trend. Ideology is rarely the opening move for these politicians and candidates. Online audiences first encounter a ‘normal’ person: relaxed, relatable, someone who is gradually woven into their scrolling routine.

What emerges is a form of parasocial politics. Audiences begin to feel that they know a politician despite never having met them. The relationship is one-sided, but emotionally real.

Political scientists have long observed that familiarity can soften ideological resistance. Repeated exposure does not necessarily persuade people to agree with a politician's views, but it can make those views feel less alien and the person expressing them less threatening. The most important political argument on TikTok is often the one that does not look like an argument at all.

There is a cost to an environment with fewer traditional gatekeepers. Context becomes optional and scrutiny more intermittent. And in that space, actors who are comfortable blending personality with polarizing politics can thrive. Across the world, the far right has shown a fluency in navigating exactly that terrain.

Fascism with a human face

The effort to cultivate warmth and ordinariness around political leadership isn’t new, however. 

In the 1930s, Joseph Goebbels’s propaganda machine constructed what became known as the “Hitler Myth,” presenting Adolf Hitler not solely as a forceful orator but as a disciplined, self-sacrificing figure devoted to the German people. Carefully managed photographs showed him with children, with dogs, walking in the Alps. All images designed to humanize and reassure, even as the regime pursued a radical and violent agenda. 

At the same time, Goebbels was using cinema to influence the German public, producing ideological films alongside lighter, comedic entertainment to keep morale high and mask the brutality of the regime.

Contemporary far-right politicians using TikTok do not operating in a totalitarian propaganda state but the underlying logic is the same

Drawing this comparison is not about collapsing contexts or implying equivalence. Contemporary far-right politicians using TikTok are generally not operating within a totalitarian propaganda state. But the underlying logic is the same: build emotional connection, normalize the individual, and allow that familiarity to cushion political scrutiny.

Short-form video accelerates and decentralizes that strategy. Instead of official photographers and newsreels, there are smartphones and algorithmic feeds showing gym sessions, summer evenings with friends and casual, unscripted reflections. 

Time to seize the opportunity

The success of far-right candidates on the platform doesn't make TikTok inherently bad, nor is it a reason for progressives to shy away from it. The platform offers genuine opportunities for storytelling, explanation, and mobilization, and it can be a great way for candidates to speak to the politically disengaged. In Sweden, instead of ceding ground to the far-right’s Jimmie Åkesson, former PM and leader of the Swedish Social Democrats, Magdalena Andersson has embraced TikTok, with her team regularly posting platform-native content that draws large audiences. Similarly, in France, Member of the European Parliament Leïla Chaibi has mastered the art of making the institution feel accessible to young people on TikTok – no mean feat.

Leïla Chaibi often posts about life in as an MEP on TikTok.

However, the space remains dominated by those on the far right who inherently understand TikTok’s power, and whose content is amplified by the platform's algorithm, which has been proven to boost right-wing and far-right content that’s provocative, emotional, and polarizing. Progressives must step up and learn to understand the platform to harness its power.

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For more inspiring examples of progressives making waves on TikTok, read this blog post about Belgian politician Petra De Sutter's strategy, or check out the accounts of progressive politicians in France, Sweden, Germany, and the US.

For more resources to support on your TikTok journey, check out Caitlín's webinar on why TikTok matters for political actors, and this webinar with Raul Jurca on how to build a blueprint for impact on the platform.

Featured image generated with AI.

Blog post licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0